A group of doctors burst in the door. my mom and brother were sitting with me, as sam had to step out to get himself lunch.

“are you the medical decision maker for christa?” a doctor asked my mom, “can we call her husband right now?”

oh, i just love being talked about as if i weren’t in the room. this is fun!

my mom quickly dialed Sam and put him on speaker phone. the doctor started rambling about jaw reconstructive surgery and requiring his permission.

everyone was talking so quickly, i barely followed what was going on.

When i flew off of the scooter and landed chin first, the impact fractured my jaw, which dissected my carotid artery – causing the stroke. they decided to wire my jaw closed to assist in healing the jaw, avoiding further damage to the artery.

The next day, it was our wedding anniversary.four years!! before the accident, we had purchased tickets to see the new Meowolf in Denver with our friends to celebrate our anniversary. Now, i’m in the hospital. i felt extremely emotional. i was so happy sam was with me – even though the hospital isn’t the most exciting place to celebrate a wedding anniversary – we were together!

a nurse came into my room, “ok, are you ready, christa??”

No. I’m terrified.

we rolled through the hall and into the elevator. i was so scared, i peed.

fun fact: stroke patients not only lose function on one side of their body, but, they lose bladder control.

“i just want you to know, i’m peeing.” the nurses eyes went wide and she pushed us extra fast toward the O.R. “i’m really sorry, i’m just scared!” i told her, crying. she was incredibly compassionate, ” its okay, you’ll get through this.” nurses really are the super hero’s of our time.

this is SO embarrassing.

we parked the bed in the OR. Now i get to anxiously wait for this mystery surgery. I can’t stop crying. I just wish this nightmare would stop. Can we rewind to Sam’s birthday and margaritas and the excitment of going to see Kaytranada? Can I just not step on that scooter so non of this would have happened? The OR is freezing. I don’t know if it’s nerves or if these surgeon’s prefer the artic cold while operating on other humans.

Sam brought a mini dry erase board, just incase i couldn’t speak, and one of my best friends gave us a book on sign language- a great opportunity to learn!

both tools were placed on my bed, and i was ready to write a big thank you note for after the surgery on the dry erase board, while also looking at how to say thank you in sign language.

a man with the kindest blue eyes peered around the curtain, “Hi, i’m Caesar with anesthesiology, how are you feeling?”

he looked at me with pity and compassion – i had been sobbing, so naturally, my eyes were poofy and my face was blotchy. “i’m terrified.” might as well be honest.

caesaer explained the procedure, i signed, saying i understood the risks. “its my wedding anniversary!” i exlaimed.

Caesar smiled, “oh you poor thing! we’ll take care of you, i promise.” he made his way to another patient, and another friendly face appeared from behind the curtain.

“Hi!! do you remember me?!” the woman was in surgical scrubs with dark brown hair, square glasses surrounding her dark brown eyes, “i’m Jodi, from Neuro surgery, i just wanted to come say hi and good luck!” i recognized her voice, but didnt remember her face. “i used to dance too!” she said, inspecting my head, “i’m sorry for everything you are going through but you’re strong and young and you’ll get through this!”

my brother and mom popped in behind jodi to say hi and wish me luck.Seeing them made me cry again. we hugged as i was wheeled away.

Caesar’s big smile gave me comfort. “okay, christa, i want you to breath normally and count backwards from 100, “he said as a big plastic bowl was placed over my mouth.

100…99….98….

i opened my eyes.

it felt as if i had braces again. my mouth ached. i felt my teeth with my tongue – theres no way i’ll be opening my mouth again. what a cherry on top of this whole experience. i grabbed my dry erase board and wrote THANK YOU!!!! i flashed it to my nurses pushing me in my bed to my room.

sam was waiting for me in my room. i wrote “happy anniversary my love.” on the board and started crying.

sam pulled out the sign language book and we went through the alphabet together.

In sickness and health couldn’t be more true.

the following hours blurred together – my mom and sam discussed how i can get nutrients without being able to eat.

looks like a straw is going to be my utensil of choice.

sam created a chart on the dry erase board so i could communicate to my night nurses. i could point to the words BATHROOM, PAIN or WATER

seriously, what a guy.

we watched a movie until i fell asleep, then sam headed home for the night.My mom greeted me in the morning with a smoothie.- my only breakfast for the next 4 weeks.

suddenly a woman appeared to my left…. how did she get there?!

To be continued…